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Vitamix paleo smoothie with Portland Thorns Meleana Shim (video)

Meleana Shim and Maru Serricchio In the kitchenMeleana "Mana" Shim, a Portland Thorns midfielder, enjoys making smoothies on her Vitamix at least twice a day. Some of her secret ingredients make for a healthy, tasty concoction. In this video she's in the apartment she shares with her girlfriend, Maru Serricchio.

We recently spent an evening with Portland Thorns midfielder Meleana "Mana" Shim and her girlfriend, Maru Serricchio, at their new apartment. Thorns beat reporter Jamie Goldberg and I witnessed a highly competitive game of Bananagrams and learned more about the paleo way of eating. We also discovered Shim's fine art of smoothie-making on the Vitamix blender.

It was a gastronomic tour through paleo nutrition, which is based on our ancient ancestors who most likely ate things that were hunted and foraged for and not grown through agricultural practices. Both Shim and Serricchio adhere to paleo eating. They love going to Dick's Kitchen, with two Portland locations serving paleo food.

Because no dairy, processed sugar or grains are included in paleo, Shim's smoothies are highly creative. They have unsweetened almond milk, apple juice and apple sauce; nut butter, dates, frozen banana, ginger and sometimes a morale-boosting unsweetened chocolate.